The Life of Dave Strider
by MarbleTabby
Summary: Dirk and Dave's parents are murdered when Dave is a baby. Dirk moves them around fearing that they will be targeted. Eventually they move to Canada. Will this be the end of moving around so Dave can finally have a normal life? Dirk/Jake and DaveKat .
1. Prologue

**Not sure where this storyline is going to go, but whatever. This first part is from Dirk's POV, but the rest will mostly be Dave's, with a bit of Karkat's here and there. Pairings are DaveKat and DirkJake.**

Dirk Strider was on his way home from a party that he had been DJ-ing at. He was a bit later than he expected, due to the fact that a couple of his friends had been too drunk to drive home. Deciding to be a responsible 18-year-old, he offered them a ride. He glanced at the clock as he pulled into the driveway of his house. 2:56 AM. His detour had taken almost half an hour. As he got out of the car, he decided not to bring his DJ equipment inside until later. He was too tired to bring it all in, not to mention the risk of waking his 2-year-old brother, Dave.

Dirk hopped up the front steps of the house and went inside. Something felt odd as he pushed the door open. It felt like it hadn't been closed properly. He just shrugged it off and started making his way to the living room. The TV was on, volume low, so someone was still awake. Dirk was about to enter the room, but something stopped him. It was a smell, something metallic.

_'Blood? No, why would there be blood?' _Dirk thought. He walked slowly into the room and moved around the couch.

The scene before him made Dirk want to throw up. Both of his parents were lying on the floor in pools of blood. He stood there, staring, for what felt like ages. Panicked, he tried to remember what he had been taught in the first aid course he had taken the year before. _'Breathing. Check for breathing.'_

He did so on both of his parents, finding that neither of them were. After that, he couldn't remember anything else except for _'Call 911'._

He hadn't realized that he had started crying until the 911 operator told him to calm down and asked for his name.

"D-Dirk." He said.

"Okay, Dirk. What's going on?" The operator asked.

"It's... It's my parents... They... There's blood everywhere!" Dirk sobbed into the phone.

"Do you know what happened to them?" The operator asked calmly.

"No. I just got home and... Found them."

"Can you tell me where you are?"

"Five-fifty-three North Amkin Road."

"Alright, Dirk, paramedics and police are being sent to your location. Is there anyone else there with you?" The operator asked.

"Just me and... Oh, God! Dave!" Dirk dropped his cell phone onto the floor and raced up the stairs. "DAVE?!"

"Bwo?" He heard a small voice call out. Dirk ran into his brother's room, finding him alive and well, but crying. Dirk picked him up and hugged him close.

"Thank God you're okay." He whispered, trying to get Dave to stop crying.

He stayed upstairs with Dave until the sound of approaching sirens forced him back downstairs. His phone was still on the floor where he dropped it. He went to get it, after putting Dave on a chair in the kitchen.

Police and paramedics arrived minutes later. Dirk sat with Dave in his lap and answered questions from a police officer. Dave had fallen asleep, and Dirk wished that he could do the same, then wake up and find that the whole night was just a bad dream. He stared at Dave for a moment, then realized that the officer had just asked another question.

"Sorry, what was that?" Dirk asked the officer tiredly.

"I asked if you had anywhere you and your brother could stay for a while." She replied.

"Um... I think so." Dirk said, reaching for his cell phone.

The police officer left as Dirk dialled the first phone number that came into his head. It belonged to his boyfriend, Jake English. The phone seemed to ring forever before Jake picked up.

"Dirk, do you have any idea what time it is?" Jake asked sleepily.

"Y-yeah... Sorry... It's just..."

"Is something wrong? Are you okay?" Jake asked. He could hear it in Dirk's voice.

"Dave and I need a place to stay for a while." Dirk said quietly.

"Why? What happened?" Jake asked, fully awake now.

"Jake... Can you just come pick us up? Please?"

"Of course. I'll be there soon."

Dirk sighed as he hung up the phone, and looked at his baby brother sleeping on his lap. He stood up and went to find the police officer he had talked to.

"Do you have arrangements?" She asked.

"Yeah. My boyfriend is coming to pick us up." Dirk said. The officer nodded.

"Well, you should go pack a bag. Normally we wouldn't allow anything to be removed from the crime scene, but we're making an exception given your circumstances." She gestured to Dave.

Dirk headed upstairs to his room, placing Dave on his bed while he packed. He was about to leave and pack things from Dave's room, when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around to find Jake standing there. Dirk dropped the backpack he was holding and flung his arms around Jake, sobbing into his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," Jake said as he hugged Dirk tightly. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Dirk forced himself to stop crying.

"Have to get Dave's stuff..." Dirk muttered as he pulled out of the hug. He picked up the backpack again and walked down the hall to Dave's room.

Shortly after, they were on their way to Jake's house. Dave had stayed asleep the whole time, and Dirk was exhausted. Jake told him to go straight to bed, while he set Dave up in a room. Dirk's last thought before he fell asleep was '_what the fuck is going to happen to us?'_

**Suggestions for continuing are welcome. I half-planned on doing the next chapter (if there is one) pretty far in the future, like when Dave is in High School. And I know that Dirk is totally OOC, but come on, his family just died.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Tadaa! One more chapter! I would like to start by thanking 333stepha for the review. Glad you like it so far! Also a (sarcastic) thank you to my cat, Maverick, for getting muddy paw prints all over the handwritten copy of this chapter.**

**Just a warning: There is a flashback in this chapter, just to help explain things a little more. It is written in italics so you can tell it and the rest if the story apart.**

***This has been revised since first posting. Not much difference, just something I forgot about before.**

Fourteen years. That's how long Dave had been moving around the country with his brother, and his brother's boyfriend. He didn't know why they kept moving, and he was starting to get tired of it. He had asked Dirk for a reason too many times to count. The response was usually something like "I'm just restless. I want to travel," or "It's too boring here. We need someplace with more excitement."

They had stayed living in the United States for the most part, the one exception being the month and a half spent in Mexico. The regular pattern had just been broken again. He was now in the back seat of Dirk's truck, and they were heading to Canada.

"Why Canada? And in the fucking winter too." Dave muttered. He stared out the window, watching the snowflakes fly past.

"Aw, come on. Manitoba isn't so bad. If it's the cold you're worried about, just remember that we could have chosen one of the territories up North." Jake said. Dave shuddered at the thought of being that cold, and shoved his headphones in his ears to drown out Jake rambling about Canadian weather facts.

A while later Dirk glanced into the back seat and found that Dave had managed to fall asleep, even with his headphones blasting music in his ears. The sight of his little brother asleep in the back seat reminded him again of the night fourteen years before.

_The first few days after the murders were the worst. They were filled with seemingly endless interviews with the police, child services, and even a local news station._

_Because Dirk was 18, and the only known living relative, he was granted full custody of Dave. Their parents' will was also recovered, in which everything was left to the two brothers. Their parents had been very successful in their jobs, so there was enough money on the bank to keep them going for a long while._

_They were permitted to return to their house as soon as it was no longer considered a crime scene. Dirk couldn't stand living there again, so he put it up for sale. After a few weeks, he packed everything up, officially dropped out of school, and moved to the city a few hours away from their town. He rented an apartment, and Jake moved in with them after he graduated._

_Dirk kept in contact with the police who were investigating the murder. Normally they called to apologize that they hadn't found anything, and had no suspects. Eventually, the case went cold, but it was suggested that the criminal may try coming after Dirk and Dave. With that information, Dirk decided that they were still too close to home. So, they packed up and left just moved around the state for a few years. Jake stayed behind to go to medical school, and Dirk didn't want to move too far away._

_When Dave was old enough, Dirk started teaching him sword fighting. As he got older, the strifes became more frequent and more intense. Dirk wanted to be sure that Dave could protect himself if he needed to._

Jake broke Dirk from his thoughts by pointing out that he had just missed the highway exit. He muttered a few curses and turned around. He looked back at Dave again.

"He's getting tired of moving." Dirk said, after he was sure Dave was still asleep.

"He doesn't see the reasoning behind it," Jake said, "You need to tell him why."

"I will." Dirk replied.

"You've been saying that for years."

"I know, but you can't just start a conversation like 'Hey little bro, you want to know why I dragged our asses all over the country? It's because our parents were murdered and the guy who did it was never caught. So he might come after us too.'"

"Dirk, the boy is sixteen. He's old enough to know the truth." Jake said gently.

"I know. I'll tell him. I promise." Dirk said.

About an hour later, they were driving through the small town that would be their new home. Dirk reached behind him and smacked Dave's leg.

"Hey. Wake up."

"Mnyuh?" Dave mumbled, sitting up and pulling his headphones off.

"We're almost there." Dirk told him.

They pulled up in front of the house they were renting. A moving van was already parked outside. Dave exited the car after Dirk and Jake, stretching out his stiff joints. He saw one of their neighbours making their way over.

_'Great.'_ Dave thought. _'A welcoming committee.'_

"Hi! I'm Sandra! I live next door!" The woman said. Dave thought that she was WAY too cheerful.

"Nice to meet you." Dirk said, shaking her hand. "I'm Dirk Strider, this is my boyfriend, Jake, and my brother, Dave."

"Such a pleasure to meet you all! I just came over to welcome you to the neighbourhood, and hand over the keys to the house. The owner asked me to hold on to them until you got here." Sandra said. Dave tuned out the rest of the conversation. After Sandra left, Dirk tossed Dave the keys.

"Go pick out your room. We'll start bringing stuff in."

The first thing Dave did when he got inside the house was locate the thermostat and crank up the heat.

"I hate the cold..." He muttered to himself. He started looking around. The house wasn't that big, just the main floor and a basement. The main floor had two bedrooms, one bathroom, the kitchen, and a living room. The basement consisted of a second living room, a bedroom, a bathroom, and the laundry room. Made his way back outside, nearly tripping over a couple of boxes that had already been brought in.

"Did you pick a room?" Dirk asked.  
"Yeah, I'll take the one in the basement." Dave said. He picked up a box he knew had his stuff in it.  
"The basement? You know that'll be colder, right?" Dirk pointed out.  
Dave shrugged. "I'll deal with it."

The unloading took longer than expected. The sky had already grown dark by the time they were finished. They were all starving and decided to go into town to eat, since they had no food in the house. They went onto the first place they found, which was a hotel and restaurant.

After they had ordered an extra large pepperoni and bacon pizza, Dave started looking around the restaurant. It wasn't very big, or busy. Most of the customers were small groups of high school students. Watching them from behind his sunglasses, he could clearly see the occasional stares in his direction.

"You okay, kiddo? You've been awfully quiet." Jake asked after the pizza arrived.  
"I guess I'm just tired." Dave replied, grabbing a slice.  
"Completely understandable. We should all turn in early tonight, and finish unpacking tomorrow." Jake said.  
"And tomorrow afternoon we have to head down to the school to make sure you're registered." Dirk said. Dave groaned.  
"Do we need to do it tomorrow?"  
"Yes. Tomorrow's the last day before winter break. We won't be able to do it any other time." Dirk said.

Dave fell asleep that night honestly dreading visiting the school. But, at least he had the whole winter break before he actually had to start classes.

**If you're actually reading this story, please let it be known by reviewing and/or favouriting and/or following. Future plot suggestions are welcome and extremely appreciated. This was typed out on an iPhone, so I apologize for any mistakes, my own and any that may have been caused by autocorrect.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Holy crap it's hard to bold things on an iPhone. I added something to the flashback last chapter, so check back if you haven't read the revised version.**

Dave woke up the next morning to find the house empty. A note was left on the counter with _"Picking up breakfast. Be back soon"_ scrawled on it. Since he didn't know how long ago Jake and Dirk left, "soon" could mean in two minutes, or half an hour. Dave decided to go back downstairs, and considered unpacking some more of his stuff. Instead, the Pesterchum app on his phone caught his attention. He opened it to find messages from his online friend, Jade Harley.

_**- gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] -**_

_**GG: **__hey dave!_

_**GG: **__hows it going?_

_**GG: **__dave?_

_**GG:**__ oh wait! i forgot you were moving again_

_**GG: **__pester me when you get the chance then!_

_**GG: **__bye!_

_**TG: **__wait im here_

_**GG:**__ oh hi!_

_**TG: **__sup_

_**GG: **__i just wanted to talk! It's been a while_

_**GG: **__also i am soooo bored and its really hot out_

_**TG: **__wanna trade_

_**TG: **__i can come live on your nice warm island_

_**TG: **__and you can come take my place here in blizzard central_

_**GG: **__hehe not a good first impression of manitoba then?_

_**TG: **__no_

_**TG: **__its cold_

_**TG:**__ i hate cold_

_**GG: **__youll get used to it! ;)_

_**TG: **__yeah sure_

_**TG: **__oh i gotta go_

_**TG: **__bro returns with food_

_**GG: **__okay bye!_

_**- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering gardenGnostic [GG]-**_

Dave had heard the door opening upstairs, and logged off. He met Dirk and Jake upstairs putting groceries away. He started helping, the only conversation between the three of them being answers to the repeated question "Where are we putting this?"

The last bag that remained held bagels, cream cheese, muffins, and, to Dave's delight, a bottle of apple juice.  
"Don't put those away. That's breakfast." Dirk said.  
"They're from this nice little bakery in town." Jake informed him. Dave bit into a still warm bagel.  
"They're good." He said.  
"Eat fast." Dirk ordered. "I want to get everything unpacked and set up ASAP."  
_'Why bother?'_ Dave thought _'it's all just going to get packed up again in a few months.'_

Despite his dispirited thoughts, Dave was able to get the majority of his belongings set up and put away in a few hours. Jake reminded him of the meeting with the school principal, so he left off the rest of his unpacking to shower and make himself look presentable.

School had let out a few minutes before Dave and Dirk arrived. The halls were still hectic as Dave followed his brother through them to the office. The secretary sent them in, saying that the principal would meet them in a minute. They sat in two chairs set up in front of a large cluttered desk.  
"Glasses." Dirk said and nudged Dave's arm. Jake had suggested earlier that both Striders leave their sunglasses off, just to make a good first impression. Dave looked over and saw that Dirk had already removed his. The principal entered he room just after Dave pulled his aviators off of his face.

"Ah, Mr. Strider," the principal said, shaking hands with Dirk, "and this must be Dave. I'm Mr. Harrison."  
"Hi." Dave said. Mr. Harrison sat behind his desk. He looked them over for a moment.  
"If you don't mind me saying so, you both have very interesting eyes." He said.  
"It's a genetic mutation." Dirk informed him. Mr. Harrison nodded. He seemed to notice Dave fiddling with his sunglasses.  
"If you prefer to keep them covered, sunglasses are allowed in the school. Unless a specific teacher asks you to take them off while in their classroom."  
Dave grinned "Got it."

The rest of the meeting was just going over all the basic school rules. They were all things that Dave had heard dozens of times before. No fighting, no inappropriate use of school computers, skipping class was not tolerated blah blah blah. The only interesting part was the school tour. It wasn't very big, so Dave was sure he wouldn't get lost on his first day. Some of the teachers hadn't left yet, so introductions were made.

"So, what did you think?" Dirk asked on the drive home.  
"I'm glad I get to keep my shades." Dave said.  
"That's it?"  
"Pretty much."  
_'Its just one more school' _Dave thought_. 'What's the difference if I like it or not?'  
_"It seems like a good school. I think you'll like it." Dirk said, as if he could read Dave's thoughts.


	4. Chapter 3

**Whoot one more chapter! I would like to send a thanks to my sister Amy for bouncing ideas. Also once again thanks to 333stepha, I love your suggestions and will definitely keep them in mind (And I love kk too).**

The two weeks of winter break went by faster than Dave thought they would. He pretty much had the house to himself, Dirk and Jake both starting new jobs. Christmas had been nice, just the three of them hanging out together. Most days he spent playing video games, or fooling around online. There were occasional strifes with Dirk in the basement, which was the only room big enough. Near the end of the break, Dave even braved the cold and walked into town to explore a bit.

Now, he was standing at the end of his driveway waiting for the school bus. The school was on the other side of town, which was apparently too far to walk. When the bus finally came, it was already half full with screeching little kids. Dave slid into one of the seats farthest back and automatically put on his iPod. There were only a few other high school students on the bus, but none looked like they were actually the same age as Dave. They chattered on with each other, pretty much ignoring him.

Pulling up at the high school, Dave got off last. He had gotten his class schedule and locker when he met with the principal before winter break. He made his way to his locker and put his stuff in it.

"Good morning." A voice said behind him. He turned and saw a girl with short dark hair and green lipstick.

"Uh, hi." Dave said.

"You are Dave Strider, correct?" The girl asked.

"Yeah, that's me." Dave confirmed. The girl smiled.

"My name is Kanaya Maryam, student council president. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to the school."

"Thanks." Dave said.

"If you'll excuse me, I have some things to do before class. Have a nice first day." Kanaya said, and walked off.

Dave checked his schedule for his first class- which was physics- and started heading to the classroom. He ended up making a couple of wrong turns, but made it to class just after the warning bell. He took a spot in the back corner of the room and watched other students filing in. He got a couple of odd looks and heard "that's the new kid" being whispered more than once. A short guy with shaggy black hair glared at him and said something to his friend- a tall guy wearing red and blue tinted sunglasses. 'Shorty' walked over and looked like he was going to say something to Dave, but '3-D shades' pushed him to a desk two spots over from Dave, and took the one in between. Even with him there, Dave could feel 'Shorty' glaring at him the entire class.

It was mostly the same through Dave's other two morning classes, gym and pre-cal. People stared at him and referred to him as "the new kid", but never actually talked to him. He was glad when the lunch bell rang. He sat at an empty table in the cafeteria and pulled out his lunch. A girl with red tinted glasses suddenly sat next to him.

"You smelled lonely." She said.

"I... What?" Dave asked. Did this girl just say smelled lonely? The girl laughed.

"I'm Terezi."

"Dave. Uh.. What did you mean by I smelled lonely?" He asked.

"I'm blind. I also have this condition called synesthesia, so I can smell and taste things instead of seeing them." Terezi explained.

"That's pretty cool." Dave said. Terezi smiled and then stood up.

"I'll be right back. I have to find someone." She left and navigated through the crowded room, returning a few minutes later with two others. It was 'Shorty' and '3-D shades' from physics class.

"Guys, this is Dave." Terezi told them.

"Great, it's the prick who stole my fucking spot in physics." 'Shorty' said.

"Kk, be nithe," '3-D shades' said, "I'm Thollux. He'th Karkat." They both sat down, Karkat more grumpily that Sollux.

"Yeah, well, like Terezi said, I'm Dave."

"You don't need to say it twice dumbass." Karkat growled. The next few minutes were spent in awkward silence. It was Sollux who broke it.

"Tho... Uh, what'th up with the shadeth?" He asked Dave.

"What's up with yours?" Dave retorted. There was no way he was revealing his freak eyes to a complete stranger.

"It'th.. None of your buthineth." Sollux snapped.

"Well same to you. And you asked first." Dave said.

"You could have jutht thaid that you didn't want to tell me." Sollux said.

"Will you both shut the fuck up?! The stupid things make both of you assmunchers look like idiots." Karkat said.

They fell back into silence, Karkat eventually breaking it by asking

"Where the fuck is everyone?"

Terezi started listing their friends and where they probably were. Dave tuned out the conversation and fooled around on his phone for the rest of the lunch hour.

The next class- chemistry- flew by and Dave soon found himself in his last class, which was Home Ec. He walked into the room and recognized Karkat and Terezi, so he sat with them.

"Oh fuck. I have another class with you?" Karkat snarled.

"Mister Vantas, watch your language." The teacher said. Class started and the teacher told them that they wouldn't be cooking that day. Instead they were starting a project that involved researching and making food from an assigned country. Dave was added to Karkat and Terezi's group, and their assigned country was Spain.

"Since this is the final project of the semester, I expect them to be done very well." The teacher said.

"What does he mean by 'final project'?" Dave asked Terezi.

"There's only three weeks until exams. Semester two starts at the beginning of February." She explained.

"Seriously? I only have three weeks in the classes I'm in right now?" Dave asked.

"Pretty much." Terezi confirmed. The rest of the class was spent in the computer lab, doing research.

It was a huge relief when the final bell rang. Dave flopped onto his bed when he got home. The first day at a new school always stressed him out, and he usually blew off the extra steam by strifing with Dirk when he got home. This time, he had to wait until Dirk got home. Knowing that he would be alone for at least half an hour, Dave logged on to pesterchum to talk to Jade.

**-turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG]-**

**TG: **yo harley

**GG:** hi dave!

**TG:** sup

**GG: **oh nothing

**GG:** hey you had your first day if school today right? how did it go?

**TG:** weird people there

**TG:** theres this one chick who can smell colours

**TG:** and a short kid that hates me already

**TG:** oh and did i mention that exams are in three weeks?

**GG:** wow

**GG: **oh i almost forgot!

**TG:** what?

**GG:** i was talking to one of my other online friends, and it turns out he goes to your school!

**TG:** really

**GG:** yeah! His handle is ectoBiologist. you should add him!

**TG:** sure why not

Dave did a quick search for ectoBiologist and sent a friend request. It was accepted within seconds and a new chat window popped up.

**-ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG]-**

**EB:** hi

**TG:** hey

**EB:** you're dave, right?

**TG:** yup

**EB:** cool! i'm john egbert.

**EB: **how did you like the school?

**TG:** the school is fine

**TG:** the people are nuts

**EB:** only some of us

**TG:** whats karkats deal?

**EB:** nobody's really sure. he's just like that. he says you took his spot in physics and he's pissed that you're in our home ec group

**TG:** youre in it too?

**EB:** yeah, but i was sick today. i'll be there tomorrow though

**TG:** cool

**EB:** i have to go. see you tomorrow.

**TG:** bye

**-ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG]-**

Dave went back to his conversation with Jade.

**GG:** sooo

**GG:** did you talk to him?

**TG:** yeah

**TG:** he seems okay

**GG:** he's cute too!

**TG:** well ill be the judge of that tomorrow

**GG:** speaking of cute, did you meet anyone cute today? ;)

After he actually thought about it, Dave realized that yeah, he had. Karkat was pretty cute, and his crankiness just somehow added to it.

**TG:** remember that kid i mentioned that hates me already

**GG:** ohhhh?

**TG:** hes pretty cute

**GG:** awwww davey's in loove!

**TG:** just because i said he was cute doesn't mean i like him

**GG:** sure. whatever you saaayy ;)

**-gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG]-**

**I know this chapter seems a bit random, I just wanted Dave to have a weird first day of school. And idk about anyone else's home ec class, but the one at my school is just cooking, and this school is based off of mine.**

**Pleeeeease review! And suggest! And whatever!**


	5. Chapter 4

**It's been a little while. I got stuck. But I'm back! Thanks this time to my rp buddy TheDragon28, helping me with some ideas. There's a weird time skip in this chapter, I don't really like it but the two pieces on their own were too short. Also, we are following Karkat here.**

Karkat made his way through the crowded hallways, hoping to make it to the cafeteria without any problems. Of course, that was a wish that wouldn't come true. He turned a corner and ended up running into three douchebags from the hockey team.

"Hey, it's Kit-Kat!" One of them called out. Trying to ignore them, Karkat turned around and started walking away. He was jerked backwards by a yank on the hood of his sweater.  
"Where ya goin' princess?"  
Karkat growled and tried to get away again. The guy holding onto Karkat's hood threw him against the wall. Karkat winced as his head struck the hard surface.  
"I asked you a question."  
"Fuck you!" Karkat spat out. Wrong thing to say.  
"Oh you'd just love that, wouldn't you ya little fag?" A fist slammed into Karkat's stomach. He doubled over, forcing himself not to lose the contents of his stomach.  
"God, what a pussy. Can't even take a hit." The guy let Karkat go, and the group walked away. Karkat stayed curled up on the floor for a few minutes, until he didn't feel nauseous anymore. He got up slowly and headed for the cafeteria once more.

He sat down at his usual table with his friends, plus the new kid, Strider. The insufferable prick. Who also happens to be very cute. '_Wait, what?! No you are NOT crushing on this blonde douchebag!'_  
"You okay, Kk?" Sollux asked quietly.  
"I'm fine, fuckass." Karkat said. Sollux shrugged and turned his attention back to his laptop. Karkat tuned in to John and Dave's conversation. John seemed to be interrogating Dave with the usual 'new kid questions'.  
Karkat tuned in just in time to hear Dave say "Nah, I live with my bro and his boyfriend, Jake."

As soon as he said it, he looked like he was waiting for something. Probably for all the weird looks and rude comments about homosexuals. But, that wouldn't come from this group of friends. They all knew Karkat was gay, and they supported him. This little bit if information about Dave's life made Karkat happy; it meant that Dave was one less person who would make fun of him.

Lunch ended soon enough, and Karkat headed to the library with Sollux. It was their usual hangout place when they were on spare. They went straight to the back corner, where there were a couple of comfy chairs and a small table set up.

"Are you going to tell me what happened at lunch?" Sollux asked. He flopped sideways onto a chair, hooking his long legs over one of the armrests. Karkat sighed as he took the other.  
"I ran onto a couple of the hockey jackasses." He said.  
"Did they hit you again?" Sollux asked, concerned.  
"Just once." Karkat replied.  
"Kk, they can't keep doing thith to you."  
"Apparently they fucking can. And don't tell me to tell a teacher or something because we both know those fuckbrains won't do anything!"  
"I jutht don't want you to keep getting hurt, Kk."  
"Yeah, I know. But there's really not much you can do."

The two stayed quiet for a while until Sollux found a new topic.  
"Tho, about Thtrider..."  
"What about him?" Karkat asked.  
"I heard thome girlth earlier, talking about how hot he ith. Can I get the opinion of thomeone who _doethn't_ automatically fall head over heelth for every new guy that cometh around?"  
"He's... Pretty damn hot." Karkat admitted. He pictured Dave, with his white-blonde hair that was styled just so. The muscles of his arms were toned, but not so much that they screamed 'hey I work out'. And Dave's signature smirk- god it was sexy!

Karkat felt himself blush a bit. Apparently Sollux noticed.  
"Holy fuck, Kk! _You like him!_"  
"What? No I don't! I said he was hot. And I've only known him for two fucking days! I do _not _like him." Karkat insisted.  
"Thure you don't." Sollux teased.  
"I don't. Besides, he's not even gay."  
"Hith brother ith." Sollux pointed out.  
"That doesn't mean that he is too." Karkat said.  
"Doeth he know that you are?" Sollux asked.  
"Probably. There's so many gossipy fuckers around the school, something's probably made it around to him."  
"Why don't you jutht tell him?"  
"Maybe... Eventually."

A couple of weeks went by, and Karkat admitted to himself that yes, he did have a crush on Dave. He didn't let it show, though. He remained as hostile and grumpy towards Dave as he did with everyone else.

It was exam review week. The group of friends from lunch were getting in a bit of extra studying over the lunch hour.  
"Fuck, I'm going to fail everything." Dave muttered.  
"That's your own fucking problem, dumbass. Don't drag us into it." Karkat growled.  
"Oh, shut it Shorty. I've been here for like three weeks."  
"Don't fucking call me that!" Karkat said. He hated being called short. Sure, he was only five feet tall, but did people really need to point it out?  
"Okay, I can find something else to call you. How about Kitty?" Dave asked.  
"Kitty? Are you fucking serious you asswipe! Where the fuck did you even get that from?!" Karkat was sure that Dave was just making fun of him. Surely he knew that Karkat was gay, and Kitty was such a girly name.  
"Your name, idiot. Kat? Like 'meow meow'? Yeah, Kitty is your new nickname." Dave crossed his arms and smirked.  
"No. Fuck no. You are not naming me like some stupid ass pet!"  
_'God damn it, you know he's making fun of you but why is that smirk so fucking cute?'_  
"Stupid ass pet? I happen to love cats. And they're also pretty smart." Dave said.  
"Then why don't you go fuck one instead of sitting here fucking talking to me?" Karkat asked.  
"Because that's wrong. I'd way rather fuck you than a cat." Dave said. Karkat felt his face instantly turn red.  
"I think I would prefer if you fucked the cat." Karkat said. It was a lame comeback but it was all he could come up with.  
Dave chuckled. "Wow. Is that all you could think of, Kitty?"  
"Oh fuck off Strider!"  
"Why should I? You know you want this body."  
"The only person who would ever want you is you." Karkat said.

He grabbed his stuff and left the cafeteria. He wanted to go hide somewhere and cry. Dave Strider, the guy he had a crush on, was making fun of him. And the guy even had a gay brother! What the fuck was this?

Karkat eventually made his way to the school parking lot. He wanted to be alone right now, so fuck whoever thought he was actually going to stay at school.

**And yes, Kk is **_**very**_** short. I've read other fics where they say he's short, but he still ends up like 5'4 or something. That's a whole six inches taller than I am. So THIS is short Karkat. I feel his pain.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Yay! New chapter! Sorry that I take so long sometimes. I have this weird thing where I have to have a handwritten copy first.**

**Also this time I'm sending a shout-out to Aimee and Aidyn! Glad you guys like this!**

**Oh, and I added something to Dirk's flashback in Chapter 1. If nobody feels like going back to find it: Jake didn't move around with Dirk and Dave for a while because he went to medical school. Just because I can see him being doctor.**

Dave got home and flopped onto his bed. He had screwed things up so badly with Karkat, but he didn't even know what he did wrong. After Karkat stormed out of the cafeteria, Sollux, Terezi, and John all flipped out on Dave. The only problem was that none of them actually told Dave what was wrong. He was only bugging Karkat because he had a crush on the adorable little ball of anger.

He turned on his computer and logged in to Pesterchum, hoping to get answers from someone. Nobody was on. Not even Jade, so he couldn't dump his problems on her. He left Pesterchum open but pulled out some reviews for school. Might as well try to do something productive, right?

Apparently he fell asleep, because the next thing he knew, Dirk was dumping a bucket of ping-pong balls on him to wake him up.

"Bro! What the fuck?!"

"Supper. Come on." Dirk said.

"I'm not hungry." Dave said.

"Seriously?" Dirk looked around at the exam reviews scattered around.

"Hey, don't stress about these exams. You'll do fine. Come eat."

"It's not the exams." Dave muttered.

"Then what is it?"

"Nothing."

Dirk pulled out the chair from Dave's desk and sat down.

"What are you doing?" Dave asked.

"I'm not leaving lil man. Not until you tell me what's going on." Dirk replied.

"I said it's nothing." Dave said.

"And I think that's complete bullshit." Dirk said. Dave sighed and thwumped his face against his pillow. When he looked up again, he saw that Dirk had pushed his shades up to the top of his head. He was obviously serious, since he wasn't going to be hiding behind the 'cool guy' mask.

"Come on, Dave. What's going on?" He asked.

Dave sighed as he took his sunglasses off too. He wasn't sure how to start his story. Even though he knew Dirk would be fine with it, Dave never actually told him and Jake that he was gay. But he also had a feeling that Dirk somehow knew anyway.

"Is someone bugging you at school?" Dirk asked.

"If they were, I would be suspended already for kicking their ass." Dave said.

"Good point... Is it girl trouble?"

"No."  
"Guy trouble?"

Dave didn't answer.

"That's it. Is he cute?" Dirk asked.

"He's... Adorable." Dave replied.

"Well that's always a plus. Are you going to tell me what the problem is now?" Dirk asked.

"Oh, I just kind of fucked up every chance I might have had with him." Dave said.

"What did you do?"

"That's the thing, I don't even know. I was just bugging him, we do it to each other all the time. And then he just like, freaked out and left, and everyone else started flipping their shit but nobody told me what I said that was so wrong!"

"Well what did you say to him?"

"I tried to nickname him Kitty, because he last part of his name is Kat, and he told me to go fuck a cat, and I said I would rather fuck him... Oh, that's probably where I went too far, huh?"

"Probably." Dirk said.

"Fuck... I guess I should apologize or something." Dave said.

"Yeah I guess you should." Dirk said. He got up and flicked his sunglasses back over his eyes. "But come and eat something now, kay?"

Dave grabbed his sunglasses and followed Dirk upstairs.

Dave had to search for Karkat at lunch the next day. He eventually found him on the far side of the school. As soon as Karkat caught sight of him, he tried to leave. Dave grabbed his arm.

"Karkat, wait."

"What the fuck do you want?" Karkat growled.

"I fucked up." Dave said.

"Really? What makes you think that?" Karkat asked sarcastically.

"Shut up, I wasn't finished. What I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry." Dave said.

"For which part? Embarrassing me in front of our friends, the fucking girly nickname, or how about the gay comments? Honestly, I though you would be the last person to fucking make fun of me for that!" Karkat said.

"Wait, what the fuck? Make fun of you for what?" Dave asked. He didn't think anything he had said was really making fun.

"Don't fuck around with me! I know you've heard people talk. And I know what they say about me." Karkat said. It was clear that he was getting upset.

"Hold on, I don't..." Dave started, and then something clicked. "You're gay?" He asked.

"Don't act like you're fucking surprised!" Karkat snapped.

"I'm not acting, dude! I don't listen to gossip. I hate that shit. I swear, I didn't know, and I would never openly pick on you."

"You really didn't know?" Karkat asked. His voice had softened a bit.

"No. I didn't. I swear." Dave said.

"So you were just bugging me to be an asshole."

"No. Well... Yeah kind of... But seriously, I never meant for it to be offensive. I guess I wouldn't want people saying that stuff to me either." Dave said.

"You mean if you were gay." Karkat said.

"I _am_ gay!" Dave blurted out, louder than he had meant to. Karkat stared at him in disbelief.

"Yeah, right." He said, then turned and walked away.

"God dammit..." Dave muttered. He had just revealed his sexuality to the guy he liked, and Karkat didn't even believe it was the truth. Hell, he probably thought that Dave was making fun of him again.

Karkat didn't show up to Home Ec that afternoon, not that Dave really expected him to. If John and Terezi knew anything about Dave and Karkat's conversation, they didn't say anything. He could feel people staring at him though. Someone was bound to have heard Dave confess to Karkat. With a school this small, it would be spread around like wildfire.

Dave was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that the bell rang until John tapped him on the shoulder.

"Are you okay?" John asked him.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Dave said flatly. He grabbed his stuff and left the room quickly, avoiding any other questions. He made his way to his locker to grab his jacket. As he was closing the locker, something shoved him forwards. His face smashed against the metal door. His shades ended up on the floor and he could feel the blood rushing from his nose.

"And there's fag number two." Someone said. Dave turned around to face the same group that regularly harassed Karkat. They stepped back a bit, obviously put off by his red eyes, but the "leader" quickly regained his composure.

"Looks like he's not just a pussy, he's a freak too."

That made Dave snap. His fist instantly slammed into the guy's face. There was a cracking noise, and Dave wasn't sure if it was his hand or the other guy's jaw.

"You little shit!" The guys hissed. He moved forward for another attack on Dave. It was easily avoided, and Dave sent him crashing into the lockers. Someone else grabbed Dave from behind, he had forgotten about the other two people. He instinctively grabbed their arm and twisted around, flipping the second guy over his shoulder. Dave got into a defensive position, reminding himself to keep an eye on the third group member. They all looked at each other, probably planning to all attack him at the same time.

"What's going on here?!" The principal's voice rang through the hallway. Everyone froze. "All of you. My office. Now." He said, gesturing to Dave and the three who were trying to attack him. They followed reluctantly, Dave grabbing his sunglasses off the floor.

They were spoken to one at a time. Dave went last so that he could have time to go to the bathroom and take care of his bleeding nose. When it was his turn, he was simply asked what happened. Dave told his side of the story as calmly as possible.

"Well it seems that all of you have conflicting stories..." The principal said.

"Are you serious?" Dave asked. Of course those assholes would try to pin everything on him.

"Don't freak out. There were other witnesses. You're free to go." The principal said.

Dave walked out of the office and phoned Dirk to come and pick him up, since this whole thing had caused him to miss the bus. As expected, Dirk wasn't mad about the fight. In fact, he asked for details. Yep, probably the only guardian to ever encourage this kind of thing.

**So, please review, give any suggestions for the future storyline. As always, sorry for any mistakes, this was written on my iPhone. (And just saying: Autocorrect is worse and weirder on here than it is on the notepad.)**


	7. Chapter 6

_**Warning: this chapter contains self-harm.**_

**Hmm... Nobody specific to thank or say Hi to his time... Oh well. Today it's a general thank you to everyone who has Followed and/or Favourited and/or Reviewed!**

**As always: spelling mistakes are blamed on my iPhone.**

It had only been two days since word had gotten around the school about Dave. In that time, Dave had been in three other fights with the guys from the hockey team (he had found out from John that the "leader" of the group was named Barrett). He had also received multiple notes and comments saying things like "fag", "queer", "pussy".

But it had only been two days. He didn't know how or why it had gotten to him so fast. But it had led to this. He was standing in his bathroom, a pocketknife in one hand, watching blood drip from his wrist into the sink. This was the first time he had ever done it, but not the first time he had thought about it. But things had never gotten this bad before.

Dave was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he almost didn't notice Dirk and Jake getting home. When he did, he yanked his sleeve down over his arm and hurriedly cleaned the blood out of the sink. He went back to his room and started working on exam reviews. Fucking things were next week. It wasn't until he was called up for supper that he realized that his arm had kept bleeding and soaked through his sleeve. He tore off that shirt and pulled on a fresh one, making sure it had long sleeves.

School the next day was still hell. At least it was Friday. Karkat didn't show up to physics that morning. Dave wasn't really surprised though. Karkat had been avoiding him for the past two days. He didn't even join everyone at lunch. What did surprise Dave was that Karkat showed up for Home Ec. He seemed kind of nervous, but took the seat next to Dave.

"Um, hi." Karkat said.

"Why haven't you been around?" Dave asked bluntly.

"I... Don't really know. I was kind of scared I guess. I thought you were still fucking around with me." Karkat said. They were interrupted by John saying "Hey! You guys are talking again!"

Karkat and Dave both glared at him.

They had to clean out all of the kitchens in the Home Ec room, so the next chance Karkat and Dave had to talk semi-privately were the last few minutes of class.

"So... You really weren't messing with me? You really are gay?" Karkat asked quietly.

"Yeah. And you have no idea how many people have tried to beat me up because of it." Dave said.

"Probably the same amount that kick my ass..." Karkat said.

"I mean, it's not like I can't take it. I've given them more bruises than they've given me. I think I might have even cracked that Barrett guy's jaw. But still, who knew it would only take a couple of days to get so dep-" Dave stopped before he could finish the word. He had been rambling and almost revealed something he didn't want Karkat to know. Unfortunately, the look that Karkat gave him said that it was too late to try to cover up what he had been about to say. Dave sighed.

"Can I talk to you? Trust you?" He asked quietly. Karkat nodded.

"Then you're skipping your next class. Meet me by the tables out back." Dave said. They headed their separate ways when the bell rang.

Dave grabbed his jacket and his stuff from his locker, narrowly avoiding another encounter with Barrett and the guys from the hockey team. He went to the back of the school and sat on top of a half snow-covered picnic table, waiting for Karkat. It was a few minutes before he arrived.

Karkat climbed onto the table next to Dave.

"So... What were you talking about before?" He asked.

"It's just... Everything sucks. I've felt like shit for the past few days. Everything that's happened just really got to me, and..." Dave pulled back his sleeve to reveal the red lines running across his arm. Karkat seemed to tense up at the sight of the cuts. Dave quickly pulled his sleeve back down. The least thing he wanted to do at that moment was scare Karkat off.

"How long have you been doing that?" Karkat asked quietly. He seemed nervous.

"This was the first time." Dave said.

"Did it help?" Dave had to think about his answer.

"Kind of... At first. Now I just regret doing it." He said. Karkat stayed silent but nodded.  
"Sorry for dumping all of this on you." Dave said.

"It's okay." Karkat said. They sat in silence for a while.

"Hey, I'm getting kind of cold. You wanna head back inside?" Dave asked.

"I was actually thinking of just going home. It's last class anyways. Want a ride?" Karkat asked.

"You drive?" Dave asked, a bit surprised.

"Yeah. Do you want a ride or not, fuckass?"

"Sure. Lets go." Dave said.

**Reviews with suggestions are always welcome! Next chapter may take a while because 1) I have school exams coming up, and 2) I might be working this summer.**


	8. IMPORTANT NOTE PLEASE READ

July 21, 2013

So, I was re-reading the story and I realized just how many mistakes were actually there. (GAAAH! WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME!) But I guess that's what happens when you type it out on your phone. I will be re-uploading the chapters (hopefully with no mistakes this time) within the next week or so. Maybe the next 2 weeks.

Also, I kind of feel like I should have told about Dirk's experiences raising Dave. Should I add in more flashbacks or maybe take this idea to a fic all it's own? **PLEASE REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! **


	9. Another note (So Sorry!)

August 4, 2013.

Edited Chapters are now up. Hopefully I got everything this time. So Sorry this is later than I meant it to be, I was just too lazy to do things after work.

As always, PLEASE suggest things and give me your opinions on the things from the last note. (More Dirk flashbacks or fic all its own. Kind of leaning towards new fic.)


	10. Chapter 7

**I'm back! So sorry it's been forever! But I have finally finished Chapter 7, will be starting Chapter 8 right away, and I am seriously considering doing a fic following Dirk's experiences raising Dave, taking place in between the prologue and first chapter of this story.**

**Thank you to:  
****_feelingbasorexic, Death by Violet, Rani(Guest), Sarah(Guest), epickarkat4242, Sai Kitty, Reiko-desu, QofD, Koori Shiroi Uyoku, Mustangmoon23, _****and****_ Turquoise Shell _****for reviews!**

**_ Rani(Guest)_****: I also love DaveKat and Brotherly Strider fluff!  
****_ Reiko-desu_****: We Manitobans are automatically awesome! Let us celebrate with Slurpees!  
****_ Mustangmoon23_****: Glad I could make you laugh! Also, your suggestions were helpful. Thank you.  
T****_urquoise Shell_****: That's pretty much what I was thinking.**

**And finally after all that, on to the chapter!**

* * *

Nobody else was home when Karkat pulled up at Dave's house.  
"You want to come in and hang out for a while?" Dave asked. Karkat seemed to hesitate.  
"Yeah... Sure." He finally said. He turned off the car and followed Dave into the house.

"So what do you want to-" Dave was cut off by Karkat's phone ringing.  
"Sorry..." Karkat mumbled and answered it. Dave shrugged and started rooting through the fridge while he listened to Karkat's half of the conversation.  
"Hey Sollux... No, I'm fine... Of course I'm sure, fuckass... I was with Dave... Duh! Do you know any other Dave?... No, I'm at his house... Oh shut your lisping pie hole, Captor!" Karkat hung up the phone.  
"What was that about?" Dave asked, handing Karkat a can of Cola.  
"Sollux was just worried because I ditched him on spare." Karkat said.  
"Tell him he doesn't have to be worried if you're with me." Dave said. He went downstairs and started setting up a video game.

They played a few rounds in almost complete silence, until Dave killed Karkat's character for the twelfth time.  
"Dude, you suck at this." Dave said.  
"Sorry..." Karkat mumbled. Dave paused the game.  
"Are you okay? I'm pretty sure that normally you would be throwing a temper tantrum or something right now."  
"I was just thinking about earlier... The stuff you told me..." Karkat said.  
"Oh."  
"I know you said that was the first time you ever did it, but did you ever think of doing it before?" Karkat asked.  
"Yeah... I thought about it a few times." Dave admitted.  
"Did you ever think of doing... Something more?"  
"What do you mean? Like, suicide?" Dave asked. Karkat nodded.  
"No. I couldn't do that." Dave said.  
"What's stopping you?" Karkat asked.  
"I dunno... Bro and Jake I guess. I don't want to leave them. Why?"  
"I just... Wanted someone else's opinion." Karkat said.  
"What do you mean?" Dave asked. Karkat didn't answer him.  
"Karkat?" Dave asked. Karkat looked at him sadly and slowly pulled off his sweater. Karkat's arms immediately caught Dave's attention. They were covered in scars and some fresh cuts.

"Holy fuck Karkat..." Dave said quietly. Karkat was quiet for a second, then took a deep breath.  
"I started cutting when I was fourteen, and I tried to kill myself last summer."  
"Why?" Dave asked.  
"Everything in my life sucked. I've been bullied since I was a kid, it got worse after people found out that I'm gay, my parents are both completely against it, and I'm constantly being compared to and put down by my older brother who is somehow perfect in everyone's eyes. I just couldn't deal with it and I felt like nobody would care if I did it."  
"Your friends would have cared." Dave said.  
"I know that _now_. It just didn't feel like it back then. You're so fucking lucky, Dave. You have people that care about you and you know it for sure. Don't keep going like this. Don't end up like me." Karkat said.  
"I'll promise to stop cutting if you will." Dave said.  
"What? Really?"  
"Really. I care about you, Karkat. So if I stop doing this then you have to stop too."  
"Okay."  
"Good."  
"Thanks Dave." Karkat said. He smiled a bit and picked up his game controller. "Now that that's out of the way, it's about time for me to kick your ass."

They played video games for another hour or so. During that time, Karkat never beat Dave once. They were laughing about Karkat's rage quit when Dirk got home.  
"Yo, Dave! Whose car is outside?" Dirk called out, coming downstairs.  
"This is Karkat. Karkat, that's my brother Dirk." Dave said.  
"Hi." Karkat said. Dirk nodded in greeting.  
"Jake's bringing home pizza tonight." He said to Dave.  
"Sweet. Karkat, are you staying?" Dave asked.  
"Thanks, but I should get home." Karkat said. He and Dave got up and went to the door.  
"Thanks again, for listening and shit." Karkat said as he left.

Dave closed the door and turned to face a grinning Dirk.  
"What?" Dave asked.  
"Is that the guy?" Dirk asked.  
"Yeah."  
"Nice. Very cute. Great ass too." Dirk said.  
"Oh my god. You were _not_ just checking out his ass."  
"Don't tell me you haven't."  
"Keep your eyes on Jake's ass."  
Dirk just smirked.

* * *

**Chapter 8 will hopefully be finished and posted soon!**

**As always, I am blaming my iPhone autocorrect for any spelling mistakes or weird words. Please review!**


	11. Chapter 8

**I am back with Chapter 8! It was very hard to write the first part of this, considering I'm in the middle of a heat wave.**

**Thank you to: ****_Bitblondetoday_****, ****_Angryanimeperv64_****, ****_Death by Violet_****, and ****_obsessed01616_**** for reviewing and also everyone who has faved and followed.**

**There are absolutely no guarantees on a fast update, especially with school coming up in the next couple of weeks, not to mention my busy-as-fuck first semester. (Seriously, grade 12 biology, chemistry, physics and pre-calculus all in the same semester? Who came up with this shit?!)  
Anyway, enough ranting. Enjoy.**

* * *

Exams went by without a hitch. John had proposed a celebratory trip to Winnipeg to go skating and then stared at Dave in disbelief after ha said he had never been skating before. John declared that since that was the case then they were definitely going.

They went on the Friday of Exam Week, when no actual exams were scheduled. Karkat picked up John, Dave, and Sollux and drove them out to Winnipeg.  
"You've never really been skating?" John asked.  
"Really, Egbert. I've never been skating." Dave replied.  
"How have you never been skating?" John asked.  
"I hate the cold." Dave said simply. The others all laughed.  
"Tho naturally you move here." Sollux said.  
"Our fucking nickname is 'Winterpeg Manisnowba'." Karkat added.  
"Trust me, it wasn't my decision." Dave said.  
"Okay, since you haven't been skating, have you at least been to The Forks since you've moved here?" John asked.  
"The what?" Dave asked.  
"Oh my god..." Karkat, Sollux, and John all said.  
"Seriously, I have no idea what you guys are talking about." Dave said.  
"Winnipeg wath built where the Red River and the Athiniboine River meet each other. There wath a trading potht right at the fork of the riverth, henthe the name 'The Forkth'. Now, it'th bathically a hithtoric touritht attraction and shopping thenter." Sollux explained.  
"Oh. Okay. And they obviously have a skating rink." Dave said.  
"Yeah. But the actual rink is really small. We're going on the river trail." John said.

Karkat pulled into the parking lot and found a spot. They went into The Forks and straight to the skate rental. Dave ended up taking longer to get his skates on. He was about to stand up when Karkat stopped him.  
"You didn't tie them tight enough, dumbass. You'll get blisters." Karkat knelt down and retied Dave's skates. Dave smirked.  
"Thanks Kitten." Karkat glared at him, but dropped it when he realized that Dave was just joking around again.  
"No problem, fuckass."

* * *

That same day was one of the few days when neither Jake or Dirk was working. Most of the day was spent cuddling and making out. Jake eventually reasoned with Dirk that the house was a mess and something should be done. Dirk reluctantly agreed and they decided to start with laundry. Dirk went to grab the dirty laundry from his and Jake's room, while Jake went to get it from Dave's. he met Jake downstairs and hugged him from behind.  
"Dirk..." Jake said.  
"Hmm?" Dirk mumbled. He nibbled gently on Jake's neck.  
"Look at this."  
"Look at wh-" Dirk stopped when he saw what Jake was holding. It was a long-sleeved shirt, one of Dave's. the end of the sleeve was covered in dried blood.  
"I'm guessing you didn't hit him while strifing..." Jake said.  
"Nope."  
"So you're thinking what I'm thinking?"  
"I'm thinking that I need to have a talk with my little brother when he gets home."

Dirk was on edge all afternoon until Dave got home. He met Dave at the door when he came in.  
"Come downstairs, I want to talk to you." Dirk said. Dave followed him, noticing that he was holding something. It looked like a piece of clothing. Dave was a bit surprised when Dirk sat on the couch and pulled off his sunglasses. 'Talking' with Dirk usually involved swords. Dave sat and took his shades off too. Apparently this was a normal talk. A serious normal talk.

"What's up?" Dave asked.  
"Jake found this in the laundry earlier." Dirk held up the shirt with the blood on the sleeve. Dave's face paled slightly. He never wanted Dirk to know about that.  
"Let me see your arm." Dirk said.  
"What for?" Dave asked.  
"You know damn well what for." Dirk said. Dave pulled his sleeve back, revealing the partially healed cuts. He didn't look at Dirk when he did it, he couldn't meet Dirk's eyes. Dirk took his arm and inspected the cuts.  
"Why?" Dirk asked quietly.  
"What?" Dave wasn't expecting such a gentle reaction.  
"Why did you do it? Was it... Was it because of me? Was it something I did?" Dirk asked.  
"What? No! It's not you Bro. It had nothing to do with you." Dave said.  
"Then why?"  
"People have been treating me like shit since they found out I'm gay. I felt like I couldn't deal with it." Dave admitted.  
"Why didn't you just come and talk to me?" Dirk asked.  
"I... I don't know." Dave said. Dirk hugged him suddenly.  
"I'm your big brother. You can come talk to me about anything."  
"I know."  
"Promise me, little bro. Promise that you'll come talk to me the next time you need to. Dirk said.  
"I promise."

* * *

**Cutesy brotherly Strider fluff for the end of the chapter!  
Review, follow and fave please! **

**Typed on an iPhone, so I apologize for mistakes that may or may not have been caused by autocorrect.**


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